October 2010
Intermediate to advanced
1920 pages
73h 55m
English
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Understanding the Common Language Runtime
The second part of .NET Framework is the Common Language Runtime (CLR). The CLR is responsible for executing your application code.
When you write an application for .NET Framework with a language such as C# or Visual Basic .NET, your source code is never compiled directly into machine code. Instead, the C# or Visual Basic compiler converts your code into a special language named Microsoft Intermediate Language (MSIL).
MSIL looks like an object-oriented assembly language; however, unlike a typical assembly language, it is not CPU-specific. MSIL is a low-level and platform-independent language.
When your application actually executes, the MSIL code is just-in-time compiled into machine code by the JITTER ...